Potential for Severe Weather Wednesday, Thursday

A low pressure system and a cold front will push across Oklahoma Wednesday evening and overnight.  We will also see a dryline develop across west Texas.  This setup will fuel the development of strong to severe thunderstorms beginning Wednesday evening across western Oklahoma and lasting overnight for the rest of the state as the storms push eastward.  Please be weather aware during this time period.

Storms are expected to fire after 7pm on Wednesday and may have difficulty developing initially, but once storms do fire up, they will become severe and have the potential to produce heavy rainfall, hail to the size of quarters, damaging wind gusts to 60 mph, and frequent lightning.  The Storm Prediction Center has outlined a SLIGHT RISK for western Oklahoma and a portion of the panhandle.  Woodward is included in this risk.  As with last week's storms, the developing isolated storms will eventually form clusters and then form a larger complex which will push eastward overnight Wednesday into Thursday.  Severe weather will remain possible overnight, though the threat is lower.  The storms will weaken as they track towards the south and east, but some storms within the complex may still be at severe thresholds with 60 to 70 mph winds and hail to the size of ping pong balls.  Heavy rainfall will also be of concern.  Continue to be weather aware all throughout the night on Wednesday.

The best chance for severe weather Wednesday evening and overnight will be across western Oklahoma, with the best chance for rain across north central and central Oklahoma.  On Thursday, storms will continue to push into eastern Oklahoma during the morning hours.  Additional thunderstorm development will be possible across Oklahoma Thursday and Thursday night, but chances will remain greatest for redevelopment of storms in eastern Oklahoma ahead of the cold front.  Thursday's storms may also become severe, with hail to the size of ping pong balls and winds at 60 to 70 mph.  Heavy rainfall will also be possible.

Behind the front, high temperatures on Thursday and Friday will be noticeably cooler.  Expect afternoon temperatures only in the upper-70s to low-80s across a majority of Oklahoma Thursday, with Friday's highs ranging in the 80s.  Highs in the 90s will return to most of the state by the weekend.

As we talk about the upcoming severe weather, let us also take a look back at the rounds of severe thunderstorms last week.  For four mornings in a row, many of you woke up to (or were woken up by) a line of strong to severe thunderstorms that swept across the state.  This was the result of a nearly stationary front positioned across the northern half of Oklahoma during this time period.  Strongest storms in the lines produced large hail and strong winds causing damage.  Click here to see a 96-hour list of storm reports from Thursday noon through Monday noon.  The rainfall amounts across the state were also a welcome sign, with most areas picking up at least an inch of rain.  Some areas picked up well more than this, with totals over 5 inches in parts of south central Oklahoma.  While this will not completely wipe out the drought, it will certainly be somewhat of a relief especially as we start to head into the typical "dry" season.

AC

Sources: NWS, SPC, Mesonet, Google Images (story photo)